The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Defining the National Image.

• Jurisdiction: Australia
• Date: 01 January 2005
• Author: Boldt, Nicole

The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Defining the National Image James Curran Carlton, Vic., Melbourne University Press, 2004 $35.00

In a section of this book concentrating on the current Prime Minister, Curran cites Howard making the comment that 'As a nation we're over all that sort of identity stuff' (p.235). This comment is remarkable in its demonstration of Howard's disingenuous approach to debates about Australian nationalism and national identity. As Curran claims in The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Defining the National Image, 'while on the surface Howard appears to reject the very notion that political leaders should grapple with the question of national identity, he has taken every opportunity possible to impress upon the people his vision of the nation's past and its contemporary relevance' (19.241).

This cavalier attitude towards Australian identity belies a 'dee[p] nationalist at heart' whose rhetoric, when examined by Curran, reveals a very particularised view of history and Australian society that privileges a nationalism that is 'inextricably linked to World War I', the Anzac spirit, and mateship (p.242). However, Howard's 'mateship', which Curran connects with the radical nationalist tradition, 'sits awkwardly alongside' his other political faiths (19.245). For example, Howard's ideological commitment to economic liberalism and free markets means that his version of egalitarianism is' one with carefully defined limits' (p.245). Moreover, his approach to the question of Australian nationalism is one in which the concept of 'Australian achievement'...